The Right Honourable
The Lord Grantham
KB PC
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
23 March 1754 – October 1755
Preceded byHenry Pelham
Succeeded byHenry Fox
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office
23 March 1754 – October 1755
Preceded byThe Earl of Holderness
Succeeded byHenry Fox
Personal details
Born1695
Grantham, England
Died30 September 1770 (aged 74/75)
Cause of deathStroke
Political partyWhig
SpouseFrances Worsley
Children8
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Arms of Robinson: Vert, a chevron between three bucks at gaze or

Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham, KB, PC (c. 1695 – 30 September 1770), of Newby, Yorkshire, was a British diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1727 and 1761.

Early life

Robinson was a younger son of Sir William Robinson, Bt (1655–1736) of Newby-on-Swale, Yorkshire, who was Member of Parliament for York from 1697 to 1722. His elder brother was Rear Admiral Sir Tancred Robinson. He had been a scholar and minor fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[1][2]

Career

Robinson gained his earliest diplomatic experience in Paris.[1] At the 1727 British general election he was returned as Member of Parliament for Thirsk on the Frankland interest, after his eldest brother, for whom the seat had originally been intended, resigned his pretensions to him. He was absent, presumably on account of his diplomatic duties, from all the recorded divisions of that Parliament.[3] After Paris he went to Vienna, where he was English ambassador from 1730 to 1748. During 1741 he sought to make peace between the empress Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great, but in vain, and in 1748 he represented his country at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle.[1] He was made a Knight Companion of the Bath in 1742.[citation needed]

Returning to England Robinson sat in parliament for Christchurch from 1749 to 1761. In 1750, he was appointed to the Privy Council.[3]

Southern Secretary

Further information: Great Britain in the Seven Years War
Caricature of George Bubb Dodington and Sir Thomas Robinson

In 1754 Robinson was appointed Secretary of State for the Southern Department and Leader of the House of Commons by the prime minister, the Duke of Newcastle, and it was on this occasion that Pitt made the famous remark to Fox, "the duke might as well have sent us his jackboot to lead us." In November 1755 he resigned, and in April 1761 he was created Baron Grantham.[1]

Later career

He was Master of the Great Wardrobe 1749–1754 and again 1755–1760, and was joint Postmaster-General in 1765 and 1766. He died in London on 30 September 1770.[1]

He married Frances, daughter of Thomas Worsley of Hovingham, on 13 July 1737, and had two sons and six daughters. He was succeeded in the peerage by his eldest son Thomas.

The town of Grantham, New Hampshire in the United States of America is named after Robinson.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Grantham, Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 359.
  2. ^ "Robinson, Thomas (RBN712T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ a b "ROBINSON, Thomas (1695–1770), of Newby, Yorks". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 April 2019.

External links

Parliament of Great Britain Preceded bySir Thomas Frankland William St. Quinton Member of Parliament for Thirsk 1727–1734 With: Sir Thomas Frankland Succeeded bySir Thomas Frankland Frederick Meinhardt Frankland Preceded byEdward Hooper Charles Armand Powlett Member of Parliament for Christchurch 1748–1761 With: Charles Armand Powlett 1748–1751Lord Harry Powlett 1751–1754Hon. John Mordaunt 1754–1761 Succeeded byHon. Thomas Robinson James Harris Diplomatic posts Preceded byThe Earl Waldegrave British Ambassador to Austria 1730–1748 Succeeded byRobert Keith Court offices Preceded byThe Duke of Montagu Master of the Great Wardrobe 1749–1754 Succeeded byThe Viscount Barrington Preceded byThe Viscount Barrington Master of the Great Wardrobe 1755–1760 Succeeded byThe Earl Gower Political offices Preceded byThe Earl of Holdernesse Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1754–1755 Succeeded byHenry Fox Preceded bySir Henry Pelham Leader of the House of Commons 1754–1755 Preceded byThe Lord Trevor The Lord Hyde Postmaster-General 1765–1766 With: The Earl of Bessborough Succeeded byViscount Hillsborough The Lord le Despencer Peerage of Great Britain New creation Baron Grantham 1761–1770 Succeeded byThomas Robinson
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